Hey, Jude!

I feel like it has been so long since I have written on here. Our family has been going through a lot of trials lately, plus a lot of summer travel, and well, after a while I figure people don't want to hear anymore about it! I know I'm tired of it! But last night, I got inspiration.

Ok, don't laugh. So I was watching the Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies last night. It was supberb and we made a family event of it. I love that it is in London this year. If you didn't watch it, well, it closed with legendery Paul McCartney singing "Hey, Jude."

Now you see where I am going with this? I said don't laugh. This prompted me to read the book of Jude this morning. It is an easy, one-sitting read. This is my take on the book.

Don't be fooled. (Jude 1-16) There are many people out there that have rebelled against the word of God and many who try to pursuade those in the church away from the truth. Don't let that happen! It is so easy to allow our own wants and desires to blind us from what is truly happening. Let's take Germany, pre-WWII for example. The citizens were suffering so much from a depression that they were desperate for a better life - one offered by Hitler. Hitler gained his power because the people were too blind to the truth until it was too late.

"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints."

Don't give in. (Jude 17-25) Sometimes we feel like giving up. We know that God's standard is perfection and we know that we are not perfect. No matter how hard we work and strive, we are not perfect. But listen to this quote from C.S. Lewis:

The command 'be ye perfect' is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. -Mere Christianity

That is what Jude is trying to express to us:

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - Jude 24

We must love others, even the non-believers. We must build relationships with them and we must show them God's love. However we must not give in to our temptations to sin. We must not be persuaded by false teachings or media bias or whatever other influences are around us. Christ is our perfection, if we remain in him through faith.

Here is a quote from yet another great British man, Winston Chruchill:

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.